Arsenal won’t wear an all-white kit for this weekend’s FA Cup game away to Portsmouth, but the club aren’t ending their work on the No More Red campaign.
James McNicholas and Amy Lawrence report for The Athletic that Arsenal will wear red and white for their FA Cup third round match against Portsmouth on Sunday, the first time the Gunners haven’t worn an all-white shirt since 2021.
Arsenal initially wore the white kit for the FA Cup third-round match against Nottingham Forest in 2022, then away to Oxford United in 2023, home to Liverpool in 2024, and home to Manchester United in 2025.
The aim was to promote a joint campaign with Adidas called No More Red, highlighting the two organisations’ work on anti-knife crime.
Unfortunately, the kit didn’t prove too popular with supporters, as the team rarely did well in it. The Gunners lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest, 2-0 to Liverpool, and were eliminated on penalties against Manchester United, only winning 3-0 against Oxford United.
It could be argued that the colour change had started to become a distraction for the team.
Whether or not that’s the reason why an all-white kit won’t be used this weekend is unclear, but The Athletic’s report stresses that Arsenal and Adidas’ No More Red campaign continues regardless.
There will just be different expressions of the campaign this season, with a strong focus on supporting local communities.
Perhaps if Arsenal’s results had been better, things could have gone the other way, with a virtuous circle of publicity as fans clamoured for the on-field campaign to continue. As it turned out, the campaign’s effectiveness was lessened by what happened on the pitch.